Catch Me
by Allume a Pense
Summary: Never had Finn heard a voice as smooth and bright as Rachel Berry’s fail her as badly as it was. “I’m tired of going through life alone. I know I can be annoying and conceited, but I’m only human. And loneliness gets to you once in awhile, you know?”


**hello fanfiction, long time no see?  
****talk to me. (:**

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A small mass quivered under a white, thick down comforter. Minute sobs came in waves from underneath the covers, canopying the room in a heartbreaking aura every time the sound echoed. Rachel Berry gently pushed the stained covers off her head, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. Black rivers of mascara vandalized her porcelain cheek. She struggled to hold her breath to suppress an on-coming whimper. It escaped anyway. Never in the high school sophomore's life had she felt such an overwhelming sense of rejection. People with talent like her didn't get rejected, ever. She was not conditioned for this type of pain.

Rachel glanced at her phone's clock. It was 8:34 on a Saturday night. Twenty minutes ago, she has sent a text that merely said "Please help me." She didn't even remember who she had sent it to. Feeling her delicate fingers quiver as she pressed a few lit buttons, she checked her outbox and was startled to see that the name in her outbox read "Finn Hudson". Why did she ask for his help? Rachel panicked, but was too exhausted and depressed to care about vanity. All she wanted to do was stay in the fetal position and cry.

Within minutes, there was a faint knock on her balcony door. She managed to lift her head a few inches to see over her blanket, and there was Finn, in his faded-denim glory standing in the December cold right outside her door. Weakly, Rachel pushed herself up from the bed, dressed in a sweatshirt and shorts and dragged herself to the door. She opened the French doors and shivered as the cold air bit her skin. Without saying a word, Finn smoothly stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. The silence cracked like a whip in Rachel's ears, and she immediately started sobbing again, crumpling to the floor without an ounce of dignity.

Alarmed, Finn knelt beside her, not knowing exactly what to do. "Rachel, what's wrong?"

The soprano ran two hands through her shiny brown hair, shaking violently. "I.." she stuttered, not able to finish the sentence.

"Rachel, whatever it is, you can tell me." Finn said softly, placing a hand on her curved spine. The gentle gesture sent chills rippling through her body. "Trust me, you can tell me."

Looking up, she stared into Finn's chocolate brown eyes. She could see the faint outline of her reflection in them, as if they were pools of water. The intense look he was giving her was full of nothing but fondness. She stood up slowly, making her way to the bed, and sat down on the edge. Although she was no longer hysteric, she felt as if she would start crying at any shift in atmosphere. Finn followed her to the bed, sitting beside her. Their thighs brushed.

She took a long, shaky breath, and closed her watery eyes. "Puck dumped me." she exhaled, her voice lined with shame as she hid her face in her hands. The tall boy beside her let out a small breath of relief, and sadly looked over the quivering girl.

"I um, didn't even know you two were together…" his opinion of his former best friend had severely deteriorated after he had found out that Puck had impregnated his ex-girlfriend while they were still dating.

Rachel sighed, looking up. Her gaze was empty. "Well," she sniffled, "it was sort a secret. He told me we couldn't go public because he needed to help Quinn, and she wouldn't let him. I'm so stupid, he left me for her, I should have known. I should have known this would happen." Rachel let out another small sob, one so sorrowful it made Finn's heart ache.

"Rachel, you can't blame yourself." Finn reasoned with her, gently coaxing her into his arms. She melted into the warmth of his body, inhaling the charming sort of 'boy-scent' that radiated from him. "Puck is an asshole; he plays every girl in school. Granted, it wasn't too smart to trust him after Quinn and the baby, but still. This isn't your fault. He isn't worth all this."

There was a brief silence. "I'm so stupid for trusting him." Rachel admitted in a low voice. Never had Finn heard a voice as smooth and bright as Rachel Berry's fail her as badly as it was. "All my life, I've gotten what I wanted. My parents told me that rejection was just a part of show business, and just a part of life. I've considered myself lucky to never have to face severe rejection… unfortunately; it's led me to feel it all at once." Tears shimmered at the corners of her eyes. She shivered and buried her face into Finn's faded gray t-shirt.

"I know what it's like to not feel good enough – trust me, I do." he placed his warm, calloused hand at the crown of her auburn hair and ran it down to her ends, the tresses soft as silk and bathing in the milky golden glow of her side table lamp. "But you of all people should never feel not good enough. You are the most talented person I know, with a bright, bright future, one that happens to exclude Puck. He's not the end of the world, and he's especially not the end of _your _world."

Rachel nodded, savoring the feeling of his hand over her arched back and crestfallen head. "I need companionship." she spoke. "I'm tired of going through life alone. I know I can be annoying and conceited, but I'm only human. And loneliness gets to you once in awhile, you know?" she shivered as his hand brushed against a delicate spot of skin on her lower back. Despite her depressed mood, she couldn't deny that she was enjoying the intimacy between her and Finn. She always had a sweet spot in her heart for him. "I just think that, if people cared to know me better beyond the 'Glee Club captain', they may actually like who I am."

"I know you better than 'Glee Club captain'." Finn smiled, admiring the gentle pitter-patter of the raindrops on her thin glass doors. "And I like who you are."

Rachel managed to crack a small smile. "Thank you for coming out here tonight. I know there are a million more things you'd rather be doing."

"Well, since Quinn moved out I'm not _doing _much of anything." he grinned mischievously. Rachel's light laugh was muffled by the worn cotton of his shirt.

"You're disgusting." she murmured into the fabric, taking the hem of the shirt between her index finger and thumb and rubbing it in circles. He smiled, feeling oddly empty once Rachel sat up from his embrace. He watched fondly as she laid her head down on her makeup-stained pillow and closed her eyes tenderly, a general look of fatigue surrounding her body. He stood up from her bed, it creaking quietly, and stood for a moment over the bed. "And Puck is an asshole."

"Damn right he is." Finn chuckled. "I think I should go now, though. Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll let you know." She opened one brown eye halfway as a smile tugged at the corner of her perfectly pink lips. Finn never realized how beautiful she really was until she made herself vulnerable to him.

Not knowing what else to say, he fidgeted nervously with the zipper on his coat and glanced at the door. When he looked back at her, both her eyes were shut. "Goodnight, Rachel." he spoke, almost inaudibly to her. With adrenaline and testosterone coursing through his veins, he slowly leant down, and pressed a very delicate kiss on her cheek, to which she responded with the smallest of sleepy smiles. He crept towards the door and opened one to the simple drizzle of winter.

"Goodnight, Finn." she called meekly. He shut the door with a smile on his face, static still sparkling through his lips, remembering what it was about Glee that he loved so very much.

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**okay, i don't really like how i ended it.  
****thoughts, comments, questions, concerns?**


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